The Dark Lords Downfall: Phoebe's Worst Nightmare
by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Summary: ONESHOT. Because of the war, Phoebe is separated from the one thing that gives her all reason to live: her son. But even knowing that Blake is safe, doesn't stop the nightmares.


**A/N:** This oneshot. It co-exists with Chapter 165 of **The Dark Lord's Downfall**. Enjoy it.

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**Title:** Phoebe's Worst Nightmare

**Summary:** ONESHOT. Because of the war, Phoebe is separated from the one thing that gives her all reason to live: her son. But even knowing that Blake is safe, doesn't stop the nightmares.

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Phoebe stood nervously on the doorstep of a big house.

She was not the same person anymore. The war against Voldemort, and the loss of those closest to her had changed her, but the one thing that stayed the same was her desire to return to her son. After many years of tracking down the place that Terence had left to him while he joined the fight against Voldemort, it was finally time.

Voldemort's defeat was a true defeat, but it had come with a price.

Hogwarts was gone, completely destroyed. Very few teachers, students and even Death Eaters managed to escape, their bodies still littered the destroyed grounds to this day as no one saw fit to remove them from the one place that they had fought to either over throw or protect.

Ginny was alive, but still comatose and every day it was looking bleak. The only reason she was still alive was because Harry refused to pull the plug.

Terence was dead. He died taking a hit for Phoebe from Bellatrix. His sacrifice had saved Phoebe and the entire world, but that was still no comfort to the family he had left behind.

Ron and Hermione, both of whom had stood in Voldemort's way when he had entered the battle, searching for Harry, had died in one another's arms. They hadn't had much time to be a couple, given they had constantly argued for the whole time that they knew each other, but they did manage to have their first kiss before they had paid the price of their friendship to the Boy-Who-Lived with their lives.

Sarah was dead as well. She survived to see the end of the battle and the win for the Wizarding world, and so had died happily, but her injures were so severe that, by the time she had made it to the hospital wing, she had no chance of recovery. She had died in Aiden's arms.

Aiden had died two months after. To distract himself from the pain of losing Sarah, he had thrown himself into mastering all four of his elemental powers - with disastrous results. The combination of all four powers, which he was not ready to control without Phoebe's assistance, had combined with his magical core, and with his grief as fuel, had destroyed him from the inside.

Phoebe buried them side-by-side.

Amelia and Cedric had moved away after the war; Phoebe still saw them during the holidays, but she couldn't blame them for wanting to get away from London. She too wanted to be as far away from the place that had caused her so much pain and sorrow, the one place that she had lost almost everyone she ever cared about.

Ashlyn, James and Draco, all of whom had managed to overcome their injuries, moved back to Portugal with Phoebe. They took back Blackheart Manor and the four of them moved in together. Adrian had been killed by Death Eaters for assisting and protecting Ashlyn, while James and Draco had been tortured to the point of death for protecting Phoebe.

They were the only family she had left and she couldn't leave them. From time to time, when he could pull himself from Ginny's bedside, Harry would Floo over and visit them.

Having started out with a rather large - extended - family, it had grown considerably small as the war had raged on.

After five long years they had been reduced to a family of seven. But Phoebe wanted to make it eight. She wanted her son back. She wanted Blake to come home.

Phoebe trembled as she pressed the doorbell.

After what felt like forever, a woman her age answered the door with a bright smile.

"Yes?"

"Mrs. Bianco?"

The woman nodded.

Phoebe held out her hand. "I'm Phoebe Blackheart, you knew my husband? Terence Higgs?" she said.

Again, the woman nodded, although she was no longer smiling.

"I'm looking for Blake."

"I'm sorry, there is no here of that name!" Mrs. Bianco said, starting to close the door.

Phoebe pushed out her hand, stopping the door from slamming in her face. "Terence said that he had left Blake with a friend, a very good friend! I was given this address as the last place that Terence and Blake both were before Terence came to join the war. I have waited far too long, please tell me, where I can find my son?"

"You're son..." Mrs. Bianco said, "Doesn't wish to speak to you!"

Phoebe felt her heart break. "He... doesn't...?"

"Obviously your husband and son meant nothing to you," Mrs. Bianco said. "You abandoned them both! Terence was foolish to think that he could survive such a war! I tried to convince him to stay, I could have taken care of both him and Blake, but he was determined to find you! You ruined his life! You _killed_ him! If you had really loved him and Blake then you wouldn't have left in the first place!"

Tears pricked Phoebe's eyes as Mrs. Bianco's words hit her hard. She hadn't abandoned Blake or Terence. She had left them to protect them. They would never have survived had she stayed with them, it wasn't her fault that Terence had returned to England, she had told him, specifically, that she needed to him with Blake; he had to protect him when she was gone, and raise him to be the best wizard he could be.

"Mummy!" Phoebe heard a voice from inside the house. Five years her son had been alive and this was the first time she had heard his voice. His first word had been 'Mama' and it had been directed at her the night she had left, the night of Fleur and Bill's wedding, and now it was the first word she was hearing after five years, but it wasn't directed at her this time.

From behind his mother's - or rather step-mother, as Phoebe saw it - legs; came a little boy, around the age of five-years-old. He had a mop of messy blonde hair and stormy grey eyes. He stopped and stared at Phoebe with wide eyes; possibly fear of a stranger being at the door.

"Mummy," he said again, looking away from her and tugging at Mrs. Bianco's sleeve. "Mummy, I go pway?"

Phoebe stared at her baby boy and her heart ached all over again. He was walking - she had missed him taking his first steps - he was five-years-old, she had missed out on a lot of things with him, more than just him taking his first steps.

But he didn't remember her. How could he? He had barely been a couple of months old when she had left him.

"Blake..." she croaked, but he had already held his arms up to his mother, who had scooped him up and cradled him close to her chest.

Mrs. Bianco then turned her attention Phoebe and, with a cold, and slightly cruel smile said, "Your loss was my gain, Blackheart! It is just a shame that Terence loved you so dearly, from the moment I had met him and Blake, I always envisioned us raising him together. _Our son_... not yours!" and she shut the door with a snap.

Turning away, Phoebe felt the tears spill down over her cheeks. She had lost everyone. Her husband. Her friends. Her family... and now... now she had lost her son.

"Phoebe," said Ashlyn. She, James and Draco had come with Phoebe to take Blake home, to his rightful home, and they were more than confused when their best friend and sister had returned without the bouncing baby boy that was their nephew and godson.

"Where's Blake?" asked Draco.

"He's not coming," Phoebe whispered.

"What do you mean 'not coming'?" James repeated. "He has to come! We're his family!"

Phoebe shook her head. "He has a new family now!" she whispered. "And we are no long a part of it!"

**~*Nightmares*~**

Phoebe gasped loudly and sat up.

She glanced around the room in which she had awoken and, with a heavy heart, noticed that it was the drawing room of Grimmuald Place. For a split second she couldn't help the wave of relief that washed over her as she realized that she had in fact dreamt the entire encounter with Mrs. Bianco, the same woman that had stolen her son after attempting to steal Terence too.

But with a wave of relief came the sense of dread. If she was here at Grimmuald Place then that meant that Terence is was in Italy with Blake.

Phoebe felt tears prick her eyes as she thought of the possibility of her dream coming true. Could that really happen? Could she really lose everyone? Her friends, her family? _Her son_? Unfortunately, it _was_ a very high possibility.

Hugging her knees close to her chest, Phoebe buried her head into her hands and burst into tears at the prospect of waking up one day and realizing that she had thrown her entire life away. She knew that it was for a good cause, and she knew that she was doing the right thing, at least this way Blake and Terence could live a little longer without worrying about their safety; she wasn't there to put them in danger.

But she was in danger.

She was in danger of losing them... not to Voldemort... but to her own stupid destiny!

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**Copyrighted ©**

**A/N:** Your thoughts and comments would be very much appreciated.

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Sunday, 25 November, 2012 at 07:55pm**


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